Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires 5,540 Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 43.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,192 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,540 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $1,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTB. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 73.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,942,000 after purchasing an additional 320,117 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,479,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 316.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 101,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,303,000 after acquiring an additional 77,137 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,799,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,786,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,564,000 after acquiring an additional 44,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.33.

Kontoor Brands Trading Down 14.7 %

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock opened at $73.51 on Wednesday. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.95 and a 1 year high of $96.80. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.23.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.07. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The business had revenue of $699.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Kontoor Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.85%.

Kontoor Brands Profile

Kontoor Brands, Inc, a lifestyle apparel company, designs, produces, procures, markets, distributes, and licenses denim, apparel, footwear, and accessories, primarily under the Wrangler and Lee brands. The company operates through two segments: Wrangler and Lee. It licenses and sells apparel under the Rock & Republic brand name.